A's complete sweep of struggling Red Sox

Stephen Drew went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI as the Oakland Athletics took a 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox to cap a three-game sweep.

Seth Smith was 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and two runs scored for the
red-hot Athletics, who have won nine consecutive games and share the wild card
lead with Baltimore.

"We're doing things pretty well," said A's manager Bob Melvin.

That includes Brett Anderson (3-0), who went six innings, giving up one run on
five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Anderson has a 0.90 ERA in three
starts since coming off the disabled list after missing more than a year
recovering from Tommy John surgery.

"To give us three games with that type effort with the magnitude of the games
... it's all really impressive," said Melvin.

Oakland remains three games back of Texas, which defeated Cleveland on Sunday,
for first in the AL West.

Cody Ross and Mauro Gomez both drove in a run for the Red Sox, who have
dropped a season-high six straight.

"It's not easy," Ross said of the losing streak. "But we're professionals. We
have to come back from being down. That's the name of the game."

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4) was charged with six runs on seven hits in just 3 2/3
innings of work.

Oakland got on the board quickly in the first inning when Coco Crisp walked to
lead off and Smith followed with his 13th homer of the season for a 2-0 lead.

Drew added a one-out solo homer in the second, his first with Oakland, while
Josh Reddick scored a run in the third with a sacrifice fly and Drew singled
in a run later in the inning for a 5-0 lead.

In the fourth, Cliff Pennington led off with a single, stole second and went
to third two batters later on a Reddick single. Yoenis Cespedes' groundout
plated Pennington for a 6-0 advantage.

Boston had just two baserunners through the first five innings, but got on the
board in the sixth.

Jose Iglesias walked to leadoff, but was forced out at second on a Pedro
Ciriaco grounder. Singles from Scott Podsednik and Dustin Pedroia loaded the
bases. Ross then singled to left and Ciriaco easily scored, but Podsednik was
nailed at home. Gomez then struck out to end the frame.

Boston was set down in order in the seventh and eighth, while Gomez's
sacrifice fly in the ninth off of Grant Balfour accounted for the final score.

Game Notes

Oakland won eight of the nine games against Boston this season...The A's host
the Angels for three games starting on Monday...Boston continues its three-
game road trip in Seattle on Monday...Matsuzaka is 4-3 in nine games against
Oakland in his career.